Mpumalanga water levels continue to rise.

Water levels in the listed dams and catchment areas continue to rise in the Mpumalanga Province. According to the latest Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) weekly state of reservoirs report of 20 December 2021, the average water levels in the listed dams in the Mpumalanga Province further increased from last week’s 85.0% to 87.4%. In the Water Management Areas (WMA), the Olifants WMA recorded an increase from 72.4% to 76.8% and the Inkomati-Usuthu WMA increased from 89.1% to 90.5%.

Despite the continuous increase in most of the listed dams in the province, there are some dams that recorded declines in water volumes, mainly in the Gert Sibande and Nkangala districts. In the Gert Sibande District, Nooitgedacht Dam dropped from 101.8% to 97.3% and Vygeboom Dam dropped from 102.1% to 101.6%. In Nkangala District, Witbank Dam dropped from 98.9% to 93.4% and Middelburg Dam dropped from 97.1% to 95.7%. Driekoppies and Longmere dams in the Ehlanzeni District remained unchanged at 100.8% and 78.1% respectively.

On the positive side in the Ehlanzeni District, Blyderivierpoort Dam increased from 85.0% to 91.4%, Buffelskloof from 97.8% to 100.3%, Klipkopjes from 90.9% to 94.3%, Witklip from 88.4% to 91.3%, Primkop from 100.4% to 100.9%, Kwena from 77.4% to 79.4%, Da Gama from 93.7% to 97.0%, Inyaka from 76.4% to 76.6% and Ohrigstad from 29.0% to 29.7%.

In the Gert Sibande District, Grootdraai Dam continued its increase above 100% by increasing from 101.9% to 105.9%, Jericho Dam increased from 88.1% to 84.8%, Westoe from 37.8% to 41.6%, Morgenstond from 86.7% to 91.3% and Heyshope from 93.9% to 96.4%.

In Nkangala District, Loskop increased from 93.7% to 102.0% and Rhenosterkop or Mkhombo Dam increased from 6.1% to 6.3%.  

The Department of Water and Sanitation encourages the public to continue using water wisely and more conservatively despite the falling rain as South Africa is a dry and water scarce country. Water has no substitute therefore let us all be responsible and make every precious drop count.

DWS also encourages the public to be cautious along dams and riverbanks as water levels increase and avoid flooded areas to prevent the loss of important lives and property as we can see that the rain is associated with thunderstorms and flashfloods.